While blocking and evading the demon's attacks, Klaus made sure to gain ground and create distance from the children, raising another platform of crystals that continued to climb in front of them. In turn, he used the same as projectiles to cut, slice and stab the imposing monster; with each blow that the vampire landed, the demon let out a terrible scream, hurting his sensitive ears.
“DAMN MUTANT MOSQUITO!”
“How original…”
The demon tried to hit the vampire again, resulting in another part of his flesh being torn off by the crystals, falling on the platform right behind Klaus, still attached to the rest of his body by a thin thread of his mass.
Still focused on distancing himself from the others, the vampire did not notice when the piece of Diagvelia's flesh began to convulse, producing viscous appendages that extended like tentacles towards his back.
“Vince” Hanna's voice showed distress at seeing them.
"Wait…”
The demon smiled, pleased to finally be able to cause harm to his opponent. He wrapped his hanging flesh around him and squeezed him with all his strength. Klaus bit him and, like a porcupine, projected crystals from his body, forcing him to throw him away due to the pain of the punctures.
“JACK!”
Screaming the name that her little brother was still uncomfortable with, Hana pushed him forward, making him advance a couple of steps.
Klaus stayed in the air using the wind to lift himself up, looking at the starry sky ready to take out his wings, interrupted by a strong cough, spitting blood as some of his internal organs burst.
“WAIT!!”
Jake could no longer contain himself and interrupted Erick upon hearing the damage his boyfriend had received. He looked at the vampire with great concern, a feeling of guilt twisting his face.
“Klaus…” He tried to speak calmly, but he couldn’t. “DID YOU SPIT BLOOD?!”
“Maybe,” he avoided his lover’s eyes.
“And yet you carried me home!?”
“It’s just that…”
Klaus raised his shoulders tensely, he already knew how Jake would react if he found out about his injuries.
“You looked really tired and I just…” he looked at him with pleading eyes "I wanted to care for you."
“It’s okay, honey, I just have to heal you and you’ll be as good as new.”
“Ah…”
A smile with passive-aggressive intent decorated Jake’s grim face as he raised his hand. There was nothing that would bother him more than knowing that those he loved were not being properly taken care of, awakening in him that terrible anxiety from his childhood, the fear of being left alone by them disappeared from among the living due to carelessness.
The same anxiety he had felt with his now deceased father, who constantly sacrificed his well-being to protect and please others.
Watching how his beloved activated his healing abilities, emitting a boiling white light from his raised hand, two ideas crossed Klaus’ head.
He took a couple of steps back, preparing his mind for what he would do. Jake advanced towards him, still smiling, still upset.
Looking nervous as an excuse, he blurted out information that his little boy had asked him to keep secret, which he had already refused knowing that it was not good to do so.
“Erick threw himself into the void and ran towards the demon!”
Jake stopped advancing towards Klaus and turned his attention to the boy behind them.
During all their years together he had worked hard to make sure that, unlike him and the rest of his family, Erick ran away from danger to be safe instead of confronting it; the fact that the boy had ignored him and put himself at risk made him extremely nervous.
“Really?”
“What a traitor!” Erick stood up to argue with Klaus, afraid of the healing.
“You told him about the blood first.”
“But I didn't know you had carried him here!”
“Calm down guys, it doesn't matter,” Jake cut off their argument. “I'll heal you both anyway.”
With both hands illuminated, the young man launched himself at both of them, grabbing them by the shoulder. A strong burning sensation ran through all of their wounds, bleeding and closed, making them scream from the horrible sensation.
In seconds, both the boy and the vampire were free of all marks.
Jake pulled his hands away, rolling his eyes and shaking his head in disapproval at their reactions. Erick dropped onto the couch, blowing on his face with one hand where the scratches were, trying to mitigate the residual heat from the healing.
“Ah… my face is burning.”
Klaus suddenly dropped to his knees, supporting himself with his hands as he trembled on the floor.
“No… I can’t move.”
“Calm down, it will go away tomorrow.”
Worried, he crouched down next to his boyfriend. He felt a little guilty knowing that, for an entity of cursed nature, healing with holy power could be more painful than usual.
“If it hurts so much, it’s because your wounds were serious.”
Jake tried to justify himself, stroking Klaus’ head to comfort him.
"I know your kind recovers quickly, but... making all that effort after such serious injuries..."
"Well."
Klaus firmly held the hand Jake was caressing him with and, in a quick movement, stood up, pulling Jake towards him with his other hand, making their foreheads collide as he stared into his eyes. A mischievous smile revealed the deception to his beloved.
"I have my priorities."
The sudden closeness and the realization that Klaus had pretended to be in pain to catch him made Jake's face turn completely red. Feeling embarrassed, he released his hand, pushed his boyfriend away, and stood up.
“Why don't you rest on the ground for a while?!” He didn't mean to scream, but he couldn't help it.
Klaus laughed at his lover's adorable reaction, he also stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes.
“Now, for real. Your blood was more than enough to heal me, little angel” he rubbed his neck somewhat tiredly “plus, did you forget my lineage?”
Jake and Erick twisted their mouths, one nervous and the other curious about what the vampire would say now. Klaus moved closer to Jake and gently nudged his arm with his elbow.
“Didn't you even used to say that I was your 'prince charming' when-”
“Yeah, okay, I know.”
Klaus stopped talking, took a step back and winked. Jake's face was still red, his heart was pounding, he had really missed Klaus's laugh, his touch, his games, his presence, he felt overwhelmed. At that moment what he wanted most was to hug him and kiss him, but he had to focus on the problems of that day, he still had a lot to do and understand, he couldn't get carried away by the moment.
He repeated that in his head.
"Why didn't you tell him you were okay instead of giving me away?"
Erick bursted the atmosphere, still irritated because Klaus didn't cover up his actions, although he knew he wouldn't do it anyway, he couldn't help but feel annoyed for having made Jake worry.
"Because you threw yourself from about twenty meters high. I can't not say it."
"Yeah, but... still... well."
"It was also because you running towards the demon was mostly my fault. I deserved the burn of healing."
Jake stared at Klaus in dismay.
Knowing how he was raised and trained, he understood why he sometimes asked him to physically punish him, even for the smallest mistakes, but it was something he wanted to leave in the past.
“Klaus, we've talked about this before” he took a breath “And I understand that you have a hard time understanding it, but we don't use that kind of punishment here.”
“Of course
not, Jake.” Klaus felt somewhat offended “I would never lay a finger on the boy, that's not what I meant, the punishment wasn't for him.”
“I know, but I'm referring to you. I don't like you using my gifts that way either. They're only for when it's really necessary.” Klaus lowered his gaze “Especially when I know that you two hate seeking help.”
Erick watched them uncomfortably. He was aware of the tendencies of his two guardians, he knew that they both did their best so that he wouldn't end up like them, that he wouldn't risk himself or hurt himself out of guilt or to save others. They wanted him to be free from the chains that the adults in their lives had put on them.
Seeing them argue reminded him of how young they both truly were, and yet how hard they tried to care for and raise him. He felt even worse for putting himself in danger that day, even though his intentions were good.
Jake continued his lecture.
“I bet you two didn’t even think about going to the hospital for a checkup after hurting yourselves so badly. Right?”
Klaus and Erick shared a guilty look. Jake let out a loud sigh, exhausted.
“I won’t always be here to help you. Please be more cautious and take better care of yourselves.”
The young officer pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes, to push back an emerging headache. The start of the week had been a roller coaster of emotions, just in this talk his heart had skipped several beats, for very different reasons each time.
“Erick, finish telling me what happened so we can finally go to sleep.”
The boy proceeded.
After the demon's attack, Klaus returned to the children's side, preparing to enclose himself in a dome of crystals. As soon as his feet touched the platform, Vincent jumped from the forest floor , placing himself above the vampire, with his fist closed, turning his body in the air preparing to give the Diagvelia a strong blow.
Seeing this, Klaus was stunned, confused. That distraction was enough for the demon to give another attack, being blocked by a shield that the vampire generated at the moment.
The illusion of possible advantage made the demon laugh again, his joy being destroyed by the small boy's metal fist penetrating his throat.
After crossing the body of his enemy, Vincent gave a quick kick to turn around while still falling and, pulling out his mallet in one blow, wrapped its neck with the chain, strangling it.
The demon grabbed the chain on the back of its neck and pulled on it, making the little boy fly forward.
“Let go!” Klaus shouted worriedly, feeling his stomach turn at the sight of the boy being shaken.
«Didn't he see how I went through that thing? He still cares about me?» The panic in the stranger's voice disconcerted him, normally when people saw him fight, being so small, it incited fear instead of concern. «I guess vampires have a different idea of what a child is capable of doing.» He dropped his weapon, letting himself fall.
He turned to see the two children on the platform, they also showed concern. «Isn't he the only one?» He considered his options, the possibilities «Maybe I can still make them see me the way I want… if I just let myself get hit a little… maybe… just a little.»
"What do you think you're doing Vince?!" Hanna was annoyed by her little brother's unusual behavior.
The Diagvelia stretched out its arm to attack. Klaus stopped the demon from hitting the boy again by cutting its hand in half. As he was about to use his wind to pull him to safety, Erick ran to the edge of the platform, followed by Aubrey.
“Wait, I was going to-”
They both jumped, colliding with Vincent and falling into the trees, leaving the battle zone.
“-move him over here…” Klaus facepalmed in exasperation, he spoke to himself “Well, less distractions.”
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